Tell me what you have in your Freezer?! Mine has become unexpectedly empty for the first time in a loooong time!

[TitsalinaBumSquash]

Whie i was mumsnetting busy last night i kept hearing a loud buzzing, i assumed it was one of DP's many electrical things that he keeps around the house so ignored it.

Anyway when we got fed up with it getting louder and louder we finally got up at 4am to find it was the Freezer, the door had been open all night and everything was mush.

I have rescued a large Organic Chicken which i was saving as it is massive but that is now fully defrosted and will be dinner for the next few days!

I made emergency calls to all my friends and family before they got anything out of thier freezers fro dinner so i have given most the ffood away so it was luckily only minimul waste.

Anyway my Freezer is empty for the firt time in years.

Im quite sadly excited by the prospect of new things in there

What do you have in yours, what essentials do i need to keep in there and what luxurys can i get to go in there?

Don't know if you want to take my example, I wouldn't.

frozen veg from the garden: broccoli, carrots, celery, cabbage, courgettes, beans and the like.

a chicken
some mince
some hm sausage meat
various diced casserole mixes
rabbit
frying steaks
sausages of various ilk
lamb shoulder
cooked chicken
cooked pork
diced bacon
smoked mackerel
prawns
scallops
some kind of fish
various kinds of hm ready meals (chicken tortilla bake, tortilla pie, burgers, meatballs, chilli dogs, chicken casserole and the like)
fish fingers for emergencies
linda macartney pies, spicy bean burgers and cheese and onion pasties for OH
frozen chips, again for oh.
some cooked beans divided into meal sized portions
frozen peas, corn, mixed veg, peppers
ice lollies
ice cream
strawberries
chicken stock
lamb stock
pate
bean pate
pasta sauce

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but there is bound to be more stuff in there.

I reckon essentials are various veg, some meat, and a couple of things for quick teas, like fish fingers. Luxuries are things like ice cream and the prawns and scallops that I keep because DS3 loves seafood. Oh and I have to keep a load of rubbish like pasties and veggie burgers for OH because he will not eat homemade things or things that the rest of us eat.

No suggestions, mine is like Mother Hubbard's cupboard as well thanks to me DH leaving the freezer door open while we were away for 10 days last week

I do miss my frozen chopped garlic though [waiting for payday emoticon]

Mine did have some good stuff in it, i was glad i could give it away rather than bin it.

I did have 30 homemade Beefburgers, homemade Thai Pork Meatballs, all the kids hm fish fingers and chicken nuggets.
Loads of hm soup and stock and things like that.

HEMum - do you still do a huge shop every week because on my reckoning you could feed the family for a month on that lot!

We try and empty our freezer regularly so that we can refill it with things and food doesnt stay in there for months on end.

Atm we have

onions
mushrooms
peas
sweetcorn
sausages
chicken
cod
fishfingers
chips
ice cream
lollies
Bread - just take it as we need it so no waste
Bread rolls

We have just had a Special Freezer Night Dinner where we ate what I had defrosted which the kids always like.

Stressed, you must have a very big freezer!

In ours I think we have
fish fillets
potato waffles
a pizza
pork chops
chicken
chicken breasts
those awful turkey dinosaur things
fish fingers
bag of peas
portions of pesto
half a vienetta
fruit pastelle ice lollies.

But I do desperately need to go shopping but dont have any money!

Mince
Sausages
Chicken breasts
year old box of birdseye fish fillet thingies
Cheapo choc ices that no-one likes so no-one eats (refuse to buy expensive ice cream til they're gone).
Garlic bread
Emergency pizza
Chips/Waffles/General potatoey stuff
Frozen veg (some garden, some bought)
Milk
Bread
Thats it really.

I've just spent 10 minutes counting food in my freezer for no other reason than someone else asked. I need to get a life (and a bigger freezer and healthier food, obv.)

Hope when you restock you manage a better selection than mine!

Ours currently has:

ice cream x 4
fish fingers
oven chips
frozen strawberry puree (to make ice cream later in the year)
peas
sweetcorn
chopped shallots
lemongrass
lime leaves
minced beef x 2
shin of beef
big bag of raspberries
boysenberries
cider ice cubes (for cooking)
chicken stock
prawns
won ton wrappers
big bag ice

ethelina - Lol dont worry i am very excited about the prospect of an empty Freezer, i can't wait to get cooking and spending money restocking again.

mine has,
fishfingers
chicken dippers
oven chips
potato wedges
ice lollys
bread
all the good stuff

ours I think we have
fish fillets
potato waffles
a pizza
pork chops
chicken
chicken breasts
those awful turkey dinosaur things
fish fingers
bag of peas
portions of pesto
half a vienetta
fruit pastelle ice lollies.

Look at the above which is copied from your message........you dont need to go shopping. Tonight you could have

Fish fillets panfried with pesto over the top served with peas and potatoes

Kids can have awful turkey dino things, peas and potato waffles!

Use up what you have before you go shopping. You could feed the family for a week out of the freezer!

I always have some meat (normally when I've bought a 2 for £xx special) so some mince or chicken and currently some steak. And I always have frozen vegetables for convenience. Also bread for toast and part baked bread/rolls for when people come round unexpectedly. I keep things like chillis, lemongrass etc in there as they last forever and are easy to defrost. We also always have ice cream!

At the moment I also have a large chicken which I bought for while DH's mum was here (what made me think she'd actually want to eat proper food, cooked by me I don't know. I was delusional). Some lemoncello someone gave us but that neither of us drink so we should just get rid of. A fruit coulis thing I made with a whole lot of berries that were getting over ripe. And copious amounts of ice as we've been entertaining a lot recently.

Now that the weather is changing though we'll start cooking casseroles and soups and freezing individual portions. We use the freezer a lot more in winter.

nothing, as the power switched off when we wereon holiday, and came back to a garage fuill of flies and maggots ( barf)

watching this thread with interest

I try to freeze half our meals - only two of us, and with most recipies for four people, its easier. I dunno exactly whats in there, but we usually have things like:

lasagna
bolognese
chilli con carne
pasta bake
fish pies
fish cakes
h/m pizzas

h/m cakes and buns, some whole, some cut into individual portions for picnics or school lunches

chips
frozen veg
frozen grated cheese
ice cream (Mauds Pooh Bear - probably the best ice cream in the world)

Charlie and Lola!

From memory-

peas
sweetcorn
baby carrots
potato waffles
sainsbos taste the diff chips(the difference is they taste horrible-don't buy them)
fish fingers
chicken pieces
few packets of bacon
sausages
mince
packet of pate
left over portions of thai chicken and sausage stew
bread
pitta bread
bread rolls
few milky lollies
milk

Nothing inspiring for you there

lol collision that's what I intend to do, feed family for a week I mean...

I desperately need to go shopping because there is no tub of Ben and Jerry's in there and my freezer is practically naked without one.
Tonight is easy though, DH is away for work and has left half of his famous lasagne in the fridge. So im happy!

I do have quite a big freezer, but I have 7 folk to feed, none of them small. I do one shop a month, usually spend between 200 and 250pounds and then 3 or 4 times a year, I buy meat from blackface, flour from shipton mill and bulk herbs, spices and beans. BUT, I have a HUGE stockpile of food and stuff. We could probably survive for at least 3 months if things collapsed round about us (so long as we still had electricity and water.) MY OH is a recovering alcoholic and I am terrified of returning to the days of having no food and no money to buy any.

Things don't stay in the freezer for unnatural lengths of time. I always rotate stuff, as I do with things like dried beans, rice, pasta and tins. I think that the thing is that feeding 4 adults and 3 older kids uses a lot of food. Almost everyone I know is baffled by the amount of food, soap powder, toilet rolls and things I go through.

I've got an ice pack for my bad back.

And lots of plastic bags with one slice of bread in each one.

Oh, and there are some peas rolling disconsolately round the bottom, looking well fed up.

Top shelf: ice packs, lollies, chappatis,
Next: individual portions of curry, lasagne, pasta bakes, pie filling, gravy, cottage pie, leek and potato pie,etc bulk cook then freeze.
Next: bulk buy when on offer - bags of Quorn pieces, meat free mince, burgers, sausages, kievs, etc
Next: oven chips, croqettes, hash brown, runner beans from the allotment (lots!) frozen sliced peppers, smoothie fruit, ice cream, cooked rice in portions,
Next: crumble mix in portions, biscuits crumbs in portions for cheesecake bases, puff pastry, extra curry portions, foil cases lined with pastry for quiches, bagged apples, blackberries, cherries etc from allotment.

I did a freezer stock-take at the weekend - SEE HERE.

We are currently eating our way through it all!

I don't have anything different from anyone else other than -

mini yorkshire puddings (auntie bessies)

home made chicken liver pate (will never make again!)

red chilli, garlic and ginger whizzed up in a food processor and portioned out.

Lots of bags of onions chopped and portioned out (some pre-fried)

Frozen chopped garlic

Joints of meat bought for xmas and never eaten.

Oh great i have just sat on my 30 year old bed and a farking speing has shot through and dug me in the arse... i thought Friday the 13th was the other day.

I feel your pain (not literally as that would be creepy) as our mattress has sprung a few springs too. We've just turned it though, as there's no way I can get a new one for a couple of months!

Freezer: We shop once a month, so fill it with mainly meat a veg.

Atm there will be shedloads of Chicken breasts, thighs and drumsticks. Couple of packets of Pork chops and ribs and packets and packets of Steak mince. Think there's a packet of sausages in there atm.

Will also be frozen mixed veg, sweetcorn, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower. I think there's a couple of bags of mixed berries too.

Couple of bags of Potato wedges, and oven chips plus frozen garlic baguettes.

Odds and sods would include, choc ices, Neapolitan ice cream for the DCs, leftover frozen Frubes from term time, odd pittas where we didn't use a whole packet, small bag of very old frozen cream that needs chucking, some frozen goubas I shortsightedly pinched from MIL that I can't cook as I don't do deep fat frying (so no pan, and not enough oil!)